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More than seven months have passed since the initial hospital visit, but Noah Carter hasn’t forgotten the ominous scene.

His left thigh sat motionless, swollen beyond belief, as doctors announced emergency surgery was needed. Carter remembers the uncertainty, the doubt, the questioning that followed.

Basketball was supposed to unlock his future, not dismantle it.

Diagnosed in December with compartment syndrome after a deep thigh bruise caused extensive pain and swelling, Carter stared basketball finality in the face. The medical condition, which develops from extreme pressure forming inside a muscle space, could’ve resulted in a lost leg had his family reacted more slowly.

“It makes me happy to think about the place I’m at right now,” said Carter, who was ultimately sidelined for about six weeks. “It is really relieving. I just thank God for what he’s done for me. He’s blessed me and put his hands on me and watched over me. I’m really thankful for him.”

The bounce-back propelled Carter onto the state’s recruiting scene, while keeping him grounded throughout. After returning in late January to lead the Rams within a game of the state tournament, Carter saw his spring stock soar.

One offer swelled to five in about two weeks. By the May dead period, Carter had added Truman State, Lehigh, Air Force and South Dakota State to his North Dakota offer from September. More were on the way.

Carter’s UNI contact had been minimal until the staff saw him play at the Panthers’ team camp in June. Jacobson called soon after and invited Carter back down for a campus visit, extending an offer on June 27. Drake offered the next day as well.

“They wanted Noah Carter with that Panther uniform on,” Dubuque Senior coach Wendell Eimers said. “They were really impressed with what he’s done AAU-wise. Not only scoring-wise, but I think they were really impressed with how he was guarding people.

“I know coach Jacobson said they’d never really recruited a kid like Noah, as far as different ways he can score on the floor.”

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Dubuque Senior's Noah Carter goes up for a shot while being guarded by Pleasant Valley's Carter Milam during the Class 4A Iowa Boys' High School State Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Wednesday, March 9, 2016. (Photo: Rachel Mummey/The Register)

Even as an undersized power forward, Carter — ranked as the Register’s No. 3 2019 in-state prospect — provides elite offensive skills and a high-end motor. Despite the injury, Carter still averaged 18.3 points, shot 52 percent from deep and 78 percent from the foul line as a junior.

Carter had originally targeted the period before his senior season as a loose commitment range. But the UNI vibes were too strong to let the process linger.

“What he went through, every day he wants to go out and put forth the effort like it’s his last day playing basketball,” Eimers said. “I think (last winter’s injury) really changed Noah, and I think it’s changed him for the better.

“This spring and this summer, he’s been dominant. I don’t think I’ve coached a player who had a better month of June than what Noah did. I’ve coached a lot of really good basketball players, but he’s at another level right now.”

Reaching that level once seemed unlikely, as Carter’s basketball dreams hung by a thread inside that hospital room. Contrasting then to now provides relief and comfort, while re-emphasizing one important virtue.

“Every day could be the last, and I treat it that way,” he said. “That’s the mindset I’ve taken from it.”

Dargan Southard covers Iowa and UNI athletics, recruiting and preps for the Des Moines Register, HawkCentral.com and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.